Wrestling with God
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
Genesis 32:24–25 (NKJV)
Jacob had just escaped from Laban and was about to meet his brother Esau for the first time since he had cheated him. The last words he had heard from Esau were that Esau would kill him. This probably explains the way he arranged his family and his possessions: perhaps he feared that Esau still harboured his anger and would carry out his vengeful promise.
Nevertheless, he was left alone, and that is when his life was transformed. There are seasons of life, especially when you desire serious change, when you have to be alone. There is tremendous power in solitude; it is the precursor of all supernatural encounters. Being alone before the Lord can literally transform your destiny.
Before I married, I spent most of my time in solitude. It is how I learnt the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and during those years I had very frequent encounters with the Lord, when He and His angels would come into my room to give me messages, instructions and revelations of the future. It happened very often in my quiet times alone with God. Nowadays those encounters take place mostly in visions, late at night when everyone is asleep, but less frequently, because I cannot always be up all night.
Always having people around can interrupt the frequency of spiritual encounters. That is why you find that men like Moses and Jesus were called to be with God on the mountains, for encounters require solitude. The other day the angel of God appeared to me in prayer and said that the Lord requires me to consecrate a meeting place with Him, and I have been working on that.
But being alone is not enough; you have to do something in solitude. In Jacob's case, a Man came and wrestled with him. These encounters usually take place at the crossroads of life, when one needs to transition into a new phase. Many of God's people are familiar with wrestling satanic forces for their destiny, but very few know of wrestling with God for a blessing. Seasons of change demand that you wrestle with the Lord in the secret place. Are you desperate for change in your life? Do you long to see certain things come to pass? Are you tired of the level at which you are living?
The Word has the answer for you. First, get alone, truly alone, with no distractions. Second, initiate contact with the Lord. Reading the verse, you might think the angel simply came out of nowhere and they wrestled, but that is not really what happened. Jacob initiated the contact: he prayed. The Angel of God came, and Jacob held on to Him and continued his supplication. That is what the Bible means when it says that he struggled with God.
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, And there He spoke to us.
Hosea 12:3–4 (NKJV)
Do you see it? The struggle was in prayer, in supplication and in weeping before the Lord. I wonder how many desires and prayers go unanswered, not for lack of faith but for lack of tenacity and persevering prayer, the kind that refuses to take no for an answer. I remember a time in my life when I was tired of poverty and suffering. I cried out and prayed to God for two nights until the breaking of day, and then the word of the Lord came, and I knew my case had been attended to. I was done with poverty.
But you must know that this kind of praying is a struggle, and you continue in it until the word of blessing is released. If it happened for Jacob, it will happen for you. Learn to get alone and wrestle with God.